Mosquito biting activity increases 500 times during a full moon phase, and they prefer blondes with smelly feet

Mosquitoes appear to prefer blonde people with smelly feet. Did you see the moon last night? Got mosquito spray? Mosquito biting activity increases 500 times during a full moon phase! There are more striking facts in this video excerpt from National Geographic.

The video is part of the Amazing Animals YouTube playlist by National Geographic:



Medical Geek Humor on Twitter

The tweets below are part of the series Medical Geek Humor on Twitter - they recall a TED moment from 2009:

@loic Bill Gates released mosquitoes at #TED we're all leaving the room and getting sick about 4 hours ago from web


@stevewhitaker Don't worry about the buggy mosquitos Gates released at #ted. Microsoft's working on a patch that's due out next year. about 14 hours ago from twitterrific
AllergyNotes Releasing mosquitoes by Bill Gates into a startled crowd at TED described as "an amazing TED moment" http://is.gd/iu0o about 12 hours ago from web

AllergyNotes Gates spreads malaria message with mosquitoes http://tinyurl.com/cxwo2e 12 minutes ago from TweetDeck

pyknosis Nice to hear Bill Gates picked up a hobby during his retirement: entomology. http://is.gd/izJn (Not surprised he likes the blood-suckers.) 14 minutes ago from web

pyknosis Don't get me wrong. Not saying B Gates is a bad person. He's not. He just created and championed software that can suck the life out of you. 12 minutes ago from web
pyknosis BTW, now that I understand the context, I think this is a winner of a tweet: http://is.gd/izK5 11 minutes ago from web: "If Steve Jobs had released mosquitoes, everyone would be wanting one."

If you are included in this post but would like to have your tweet removed for any reason, please email me and will comply with your request the same day.



Comments from Twitter:

Vijay @scanman: Mosquitoes are mini-vampires

Tariq @ucisee: Mosquito biting activity increases 500 times during a full moon phase - "appear to pref blonde with smelly feet."

Kathy Mackey @mkmackey: Ha! No one likes full moon!

FDA: High-dose simvastatin increases risk of muscle injury - caution with lower doses plus Amiodarone, Verapamil, Diltiazem

Based on review of data from a large clinical trial and data from other sources, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public about an increased risk of muscle injury in patients taking the highest approved dose of the cholesterol-lowering medication, Zocor (simvastatin) 80 mg, compared to patients taking lower doses of simvastatin and possibly other drugs in the "statin" class.

The muscle injury, also called myopathy, is a known side effect with all statin medications. The most serious form of myopathy is called rhabdomyolysis. Patients with myopathy generally have muscle pain, tenderness or weakness, and an elevation of a muscle enzyme in the blood (creatine kinase). The higher the dose of statin used, the greater the risk of developing myopathy. The risk of myopathy is also increased when simvastatin, especially at the higher doses, is used with certain drugs (see Simvastatin Dose Limitations below).

The data come from the SEARCH study, in which myopathy was seen in nearly 1% of patients taking the 80 milligram dose of Zocor but in only 0.02% of patients taking the 20 milligram dose of Zocor.

Update 6/2011: FDA Restricts Use of Simvastatin 80 mg, due to increased risk of muscle damage http://goo.gl/K9O5v

Rhabdomyolysis was rare in the SEARCH study. It happened in only 11 of 6,031 patients (0.02%) in group taking the 80 milligram dose of Zocor, but was not seen in patients taking the 20 milligram dose.

New data also suggest that people of Chinese descent should not take Zocor at the 80 milligram dose -- and should be careful even when taking lower doses -- if they also take niacin-containing products.

Simvastatin Dose Limitations

These limitations apply to ALL patients taking simvastatin.

Do not use simvastatin with these medications:

Itraconazole
Ketoconazole
Erythromycin
Clarithromycin
Telithromycin
HIV protease inhibitors
Nefazodone

Do not use more than 10mg of simvastatin with these medications:

Gemfibrozil
Cyclosporine
Danazol

Do not use more than 20mg of simvastatin with these medications:

Amiodarone
Verapamil

Do not use more than 40mg of simvastatin with this medication:

Diltiazem

References:

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Ongoing safety review of high-dose Zocor (simvastatin) and increased risk of muscle injury. FDA.
FDA Warns of Zocor Risk to Muscles. WebMD.

FDA Restricts Use of Simvastatin 80 mg, due to increased risk of muscle damage http://goo.gl/K9O5v

Image source: Simvastatin. Wikipedia, public domain.

Contact lenses change color when blood glucose increases in diabetics

In the future, diabetics may be able to wear contact lenses that continuously alert them to variations in their glucose levels by changing colors - potentially replacing the need to routinely draw blood throughout the day.

The non-invasive technology, developed by Chemical and Biochemical Engineering professor Jin Zhang at The University of Western Ontario, uses extremely small nanoparticles embedded into the hydrogel lenses. These engineered nanoparticles react with glucose molecules found in tears, causing a chemical reaction that changes their color.

References:
Nanocomposites could change diabetes treatment. The University of Western Ontario, 2010.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org.

Metformin increases risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency

As many as 22% of people with type 2 diabetes could have vitamin B-12 deficiency.

This BMJ study evaluated the effects of metformin on the incidence of vitamin B-12 deficiency (lower than 150 pmol/l), low concentrations of vitamin B-12 (150-220 pmol/l), and folate and homocysteine concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes receiving treatment with insulin.

Compared with placebo, metformin treatment was associated with a decrease in vitamin B-12 concentration of -19%.

The absolute risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency (lower than 150 pmol/l) at study end was 7.2 percentage points higher in the metformin group than in the placebo group with a number needed to harm of 13.8 per 4.3 years.

Long term treatment with metformin may increase the risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency, which results in raised homocysteine concentrations. Vitamin B-12 deficiency is preventable; therefore, regular measurement of vitamin B-12 concentrations during long term metformin treatment should be considered.

References:
BMJ 2010; 340:c2181

BMJ 2010; 340:c2198

Image source: Metformin. Wikipedia, public domain.

iPad use by medical residents gets rave reviews, increases productivity

View more videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com.

The Internal Medicine Residents at the University of Chicago Medical Center are now equipped with iPads as their primary device for clinical use.

In the summer of 2010, the Internal Medicine Residency (IMR) program began piloting a project to study the use of iPads on the inpatient wards. Initiated by the Chairman's Office, the project was intended to enhance efficiency of patient care activities on the wards with the goals of improved patient care and more robust conference attendance.

The pilot was overwhelmingly positive and has led to broader use of the devices for all IMR residents. The DOM Internal Medicine Residency program is the first training program in the country to utilize the device.

As an Assistant Professor at University of Chicago, I work with the residents on a daily basis and I can confirm that they love their iPads.

References:

University of Chicago Medical Center
iPads Helping Doctors. NBC.

Tablet computers in the hospital - ACP Hospitalist, August 2011 http://goo.gl/a9OND

Comments from Twitter:

@DrVes: Why are some doctors and nurses giving back their iPads? http://j.mp/Hq15aD - Easy: iPad works great for pt education, NOT for data entry. Only 10% of doctors currently use an iPad at work http://j.mp/Hq15aD - I use iPad daily to discuss these diagrams: http://j.mp/Hq1k5v

iPad is a great teaching tool @CraigCCRNCEN was able to explain to Vietnamese family AFib and clots by showing them animation from YouTube.

Brian S. McGowan PhD @BrianSMcGowan: so is the best option for docs still a touch screen laptop? teach w/ touch screen, work w/ full keyboard? #hcsm

@DrVes: iPad works well for discussing DDx, Tx options with pts. Much more portable than laptop. Full-keyboard COWs best for typing.

Jeff Bray @jeffkbray: I have been scanning all my medical reference books and store them on my iPad for quick use and no weight - great tool and mobile

Osteoporosis Drug Lasofoxifene May "Fight" Several Diseases But Increases Risk of Blood Clots

Lasofoxifene is a part of a class of drugs known as nonsteroidal selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs). It has already been shown to decrease the bone loss associated with osteoporosis, like other SERMs, including tamoxifen and raloxifene. But until now its effect on other health conditions commonly experienced by postmenopausal women was unknown.

The women who took lasofoxifene had an 81% lower risk of estrogen-receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, a 32% lower risk of heart-related events like heart attack, and a 36% lower risk of stroke. "This is the first SERM that reduces the risk of all of these conditions at once."

However, not all the results were positive. As with other SERMs, women taking lasofoxifene had double to nearly three times the risk of experiencing a serious blot clot of the deep veins.

References:
Osteoporosis Drug May Fight Several Diseases. WebMD, 2010.

NEJM -- Lasofoxifene in Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis.

Image source: Flickr, Creative Commons license.

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 increases risk of coronary disease

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), an inflammatory enzyme expressed in atherosclerotic plaques, is a therapeutic target being assessed in trials of vascular disease prevention.

Lp-PLA2 activity and mass each show continuous associations with risk of coronary heart disease, similar in magnitude to that with non-HDL cholesterol or systolic blood pressure.



Lipoprotein structure (chylomicron). Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

References:

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and risk of coronary disease, stroke, and mortality: collaborative analysis of 32 prospective studies. The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9725, Pages 1536 - 1544, 1 May 2010.